Clutch play from Lauren Martin (Fresno, Calif./Clovis West HS) earned the UC Santa Barbara senior the Big West Women’s Water Polo Player of the Week award.

The center was the catalyst behind back-to-back Gaucho victories over No. 9 UC Davis and No. 4 Hawai‘i. She scored a pair of goals in a 7-6 victory over the Aggies, including the game-winner in sudden victory overtime. Martin hauled in an entry pass and unleashed a backhanded throw into the goal as the Gauchos won their first conference game.

Martin helped setup the heroic goal with a game-tying strike in the third quarter that knotted the score line at 4-4. She also had four earned ejections and a steal to help the Gaucho cause.

In the 7-5 upset win over Hawai‘i, Martin capped off a 3-0 Gaucho run with her only goal of the game, which gave her side a 5-3 edge with 4:40 left in the third quarter. Martin tallied two more earned ejections, one of which led to a Sophie Trabucco fourth period power play goal. The two wins were UCSB’s first victories against top-10 nationally ranked opponents this season.